New playground on the way in Sherwood Village Park

New playground equipment is scheduled to be installed in Sarnia's Sherwood Village Park this month.

Communications Manager Steve Henschel said two play structures on the eastern side of the park have been removed.

"One that was kind of central, which was a small swing and slide, and then there was a slightly larger one a bit to the north... and that was installed sometime around 2003, so it's not the first time the city has put something in," Henschel said. "But, we definitely heard from people in the area that there's a need for some enhanced playground equipment there. That equipment there was very much nearing the end of its life, so the time had come to replace it."

Henschel said crews were doing site work and mapping out the area last week.

"We're looking to kick off construction on July 7. [That's] our current target date, weather permitting of course. It's going to take approximately four weeks and we're installing one large playground there," he said.

An artist rendering of new playground equipment at Sherwood Park. Landscape Structures image created for ABC Recreation courtesy of City of Sarnia.

The project was funded entirely through Sarnia's annual capital budget.

"We have an annual playground replacement budget, it's $300,000 this year," Henschel said. "It's pretty much around that every year. Some years we divvy it out across multiple parks, but given the interest in this park and the need for replacement, we're doing one, large playground there. It's 4,000 square feet of play area. It's got a rope climbing obstacle structure, and separate area for toddlers and swing sets. So, it's a really nice design and we're excited to see it going in there."

Henschel said the base will be an engineered wood fibre.

"Kind of like wood chips, but softer," he said. "They have a number of benefits, they're pest and weed resistant, they're easy to maintain and they have a high safety rating. So, they're a really great play surface. We actually have an annual program where we pick a few parks every year and replace the old gravel or sand with these engineered wood fibres. So, it's very similar to what went into Rainbow Park most recently, but a number of other parks across the city."

An artist rendering of new playground equipment at Sherwood Park. Landscape Structures image created for ABC Recreation courtesy of City of Sarnia.

ABC Recreation Limited from Paris, Ontario was awarded the contract.